CWU Celebrates MLK Jr.: "Freedom Ride" documentary screening

CWU Celebrates MLK Jr.: "Freedom Ride" documentary screening Jan. 15 SURC Pit ? 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., will run continuously all day Free and open to the public The first Freedom Ride took place on May 4, 1961 when seven blacks and six whites left Washington, D.C., on two public buses bound for the Deep South. They intended to test the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional. Riders were severely beaten and busses were lit on fire. With the intervention of the U.S. Justice Department, most of CORE's Freedom Riders were evacuated from Birmingham, Alabama to New Orleans. In 2011 CWU students retraced the route of the Freedom Riders from Washington D.C. to New Orleans and filmed their experiences for this one-of-a-kind documentary. Activities and events have been organized by the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee and sponsored by CWU Africana & Black Studies, CWU Students for the Dream, CWU Black Student Union, CWU E.M.P.I.R.E., CWU Center for Leadership and Community Engagement and the CWU Center for Diversity and Social Justice. Contact: Center for Leadership and Community Engagement, 509-963-1850, clce@cwu.edu or www.cwu.edu/leadership-engage